Arthur left the inn and made his way back to the forest, heart pounding with anticipation.
The moment he arrived, he summoned Sylvaris.
A pulse of blinding white light erupted before him. The glow was intense, much brighter than before—like a cocoon woven from raw energy. Arthur's pupils contracted against the sheer brightness, but he didn't look away.
Then, the countdown began.
[Ding! Evolution in progress.](Cooldown: 5...4...3...2...1...)
The light trembled—then exploded outward.
Arthur's breath caught in his throat.
From the remnants of that radiance, Sylvaris emerged.
Arthur's eyes widened.
The serpent had transformed.
His silver scales of its former self were now gone. Now, Sylvaris's body was cloaked in obsidian-black scales, laced with jagged streaks of glowing emerald veins. Each scale shimmered like polished metal, shifting in colour depending on the angle of the light.
But what struck Arthur the most were the changes to its form.
Sylvaris had grown even more massive. Even when its body was coiled like a shadowed titan, it was still incredibly big. Twin horns now curved back from its skull.
A deep, guttural hiss echoed through the clearing, but this was no ordinary sound.
The air warped around Sylvaris, shimmering like heat rising from scorched earth. A pressure erupted from Sylvaris—an aura of sheer dominance, oppressive yet exhilarating similar to Aamons. But Arthur did not feel attacked by it, he simply admired it, it was his summon after all.
Then, the notification arrived.
[Ding! Your summon 'Sylvaris' has evolved into Abyssal Devourer (Superior Boss).]
Without wasting a second, Arthur immediately checked Sylvaris's new status.
[Phyiscal Damage:] 26
[Damage Resistance:] 21
[Attributes:] Strength 26, Agility 19, Vitality 21, Intelligence 20
[Skills:] Poison Bite (Epic), Land Smash (Very Rare), Devour (Superior)
[Attribute Points:] 1
Arthur's eyes darted across Sylvaris's new status screen, each stat and skill igniting a flicker of excitement deep within him.
"Damn…" he muttered under his breath, his gaze narrowing.
Sylvaris's evolution wasn't just cosmetic—the stats had skyrocketed. It was like he had gained two levels, he had gotten an extra 9 attribute points total across his four attributes.
But it was the skills that truly made his heart race.
His eyes locked onto Poison Bite.
'It got bumped to Epic grade… That's massive.' The venom potency was deadlier now.
But then—his gaze froze.
Arthur's heart skipped a beat as he read the description.
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
Even if the chance was low—1%—the potential was undeniable. Over time, Sylvaris could slowly grow stronger with every fight, absorbing pieces of his prey, like an unstoppable predator evolving beyond logic.
'And if he devours the right targets...' Arthur's mind spiraled into possibilities—boosting Sylvaris's agility through fast monsters, stacking intelligence from magical beasts, or pushing strength to absurd levels.
This wasn't just an evolution.
It was limitless growth.
"You're stronger than Aamon now," Arthur whispered, eyes gleaming as Sylvaris coiled beside him, its black-scaled body shimmering under the sunlight, those emerald veins glowing like rivers of poison.
Sylvaris's forked tongue flicked out, as if understanding every word.
Arthur's fingers tapped against his chin rhythmically.
"He got all that from evolution alone," Arthur murmured, eyes narrowing as he reviewed Sylvaris's new status screen once more. "Not a single skill from hitting level 15…"
Before Arthur had hit level 15, he had expected himself to get a new talent effect alongside a new class skill from his SSS-Ranked class, Shadow Monarch, unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
He had only gotten a new talent effect, and nothing from his class.
"It's like I thought. After level 10, the system's pace slows down." He muttered under his breath, his mind already piecing things together. "No class skill at 15… It's likely every ten levels now."
It made sense in a brutal way—players who advanced past level 10 were already considered elite compared to the masses. Giving out new skills every five levels would make them too strong too fast.
"Level 20, then." He sighed, crossing his arms. "That's when I'll get my next class skill… maybe another talent effect too."
Arthur's eyes flicked toward Sylvaris, who was hissing lowly, testing his newly strengthened body.
The fact that Sylvaris had received a Superior-Grade Skill, and evolved one of his skills to epic, just from evolution—without levelling—made it clear that evolution pathways were more than just side perks.
"Evolutions are the real shortcut to power," Arthur muttered, his fingers curling into a fist.
If his summons could evolve into these broken forms, gain new passives like Devour, and stack power over time, then it almost didn't matter if his own levelling slowed.
"I need to focus on evolving the others now," Arthur decided, eyes gleaming. "Summons are my main damage dealers anyway. The stronger they are, the stronger I am."
Arthur activated his Evolution pathway skill once again and checked out Sylvaris's next evolution pathway.
Focus: Amplifying its hunger to devour not just life, but its enemy's existence itself. Increased devouring power.
Arthur exhaled sharply, his eyes scanning over the newly revealed evolution pathway.
"Five. Hundred. Serpents…" he muttered under his breath, rolling the words around like bitter medicine. It wasn't impossible—just gruelling.
Even with Sylvaris's boosted power, finding and slaughtering that many serpents would take time. Weeks, maybe.
Arthur leaned against a nearby tree, running a hand through his hair. His mind raced through possible hunting spots—he needed serpent-infested areas, dense ones.
But the real problem wasn't the serpents.
It was the Epic Spirit Core.
The last time he got a Very-Rare grade spirit core, was after taking down a Level 16 Epic-Grade Poisonous Painted Serpent. And if the system followed the same logic, the next core wouldn't come from just any Epic boss below level 20.